PART 3: Building Bridges—The Parent Perspective
Written by Alanna Dushok
School-Based Technology Specialist at Fairfax County Public Schools
A window into the classroom: The parent perspective
The success of TalkingPoints is perhaps best demonstrated by the ease and effectiveness experienced by families. Parents at Westlawn consistently describe the platform as more convenient and less formal than email, akin to a text message, allowing them to quickly get in touch with teachers, specialists, or administrators.
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Parent Ashley Coleman, mother of a third-grade student, noted that TalkingPoints provided “direct, immediate access” to her daughter’s teacher and was “so much more convenient than email.”
Coleman uses TalkingPoints for Families to share various updates directly with the teacher, such as information about late arrivals due to appointments, even while following the official absence procedures for the school. As an educator herself, Coleman understands the value of minutiae about student lives, and uses TalkingPoints to share details that help her daughter’s teacher get a broader understanding of her child’s life outside of school. Coleman also appreciates the photos sent by teachers, which offer a valuable window into her daughter’s daily school life, and provides a launchpad for a rich dialogue when her daughter arrives home from school.
For busy parents, the efficiency of the platform is a significant benefit. Parent Kathy Harrington appreciates sending messages “on the fly” about small but important updates (like a dentist appointment), ensuring the information reaches the teacher right away. She finds it easier than email because she does not need to remember the teacher’s first name, which is necessary for school email addresses.
Harrington’s favorite feature is the app notifications, which separate Westlawn messages from other communications and prioritize messages coming directly from the classroom teacher over general school announcements. This immediate, two-way communication builds bridges between school and home, ensuring each child is supported across both environments. For example, Harrington was able to quickly pull up messages with the strings teacher, Ms. Emery, regarding specific instrument accessories her daughter needed while shopping at the music store. This enhanced communication also allows teachers to share moments of celebration, such as quick updates on high reading assessment scores or positive state test results, ensuring the student’s success is celebrated across school and home.
Another parent, Amanda Mangum, who works in a hybrid office environment, finds the quick access invaluable, especially since she can only check personal email via her phone on in-office days, a cumbersome process avoided by the ease of using TalkingPoints. Mangum and her partner have also both enabled shared messaging through the TalkingPoints app, which allows them to be joined in a conversational group with the classroom teacher. This ensures that all three people see the messages that each other has sent, and ultimately makes it easier for her and her spouse to reference schedules, photos, or discussions quickly, which is crucial when balancing busy schedules.
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For a decade, TalkingPoints has supported students, families, and educators through the power of effective family-school partnerships. As an education technology nonprofit, our award-winning communication and family engagement platform has improved outcomes for districts and students across the country.
We connect 9 million+ educators, students, and family members annually and have facilitated more than one billion conversations—building trust, fostering relationships, and fueling student success. Named by Common Sense Education as “the best overall family communication platform for teachers and schools,” TalkingPoints drives measurable gains in attendance and academic achievement, backed by rigorous, causal research.
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